- the case of XTRAAesthetic Klinik’s Richard Owusu
With a growing youth population, Africa is at the forefront of the digital economy. By the end of 2050, it is estimated that more than half of the world’s population growth will be in Africa as the continent is currently home to six out of the ten of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
This size and pace of growth in Africa is unprecedented, and will bring with it equally unique challenges and opportunities for Africa. While there will be an even greater strain on already limited resources, there will also be an immense supply of potentially entrepreneurial youth to help solve problems facing the continent.
Global industry experts have indicated that the next wave of major start-ups will come in the form of platform businesses out of Africa in varied sectors including e-commerce, logistics, and fintech, placing the continent on the radar of several wealthy individuals, investors, as well as multinational corporate giants.
There are several young people going above themselves to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams to make the continent a better place for its inhabitants. In addition, their vision is to tap into youth and entrepreneurship to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next decade and more.
One of such young enterprising people is Richard Owusu. Living a comfortable life in Germany with the prospects of making a name for himself in Corporate Germany, Richard Owusu took that bold decision and took the step to pack his luggage and return to the motherland to contribute his quota to the development of Ghana and the continent at large.
He was running his cleaning company in Stuttgart called Organic Gebäude Dienstleistung, which was doing very well after graduating from the Nurtingen-Geislingen University with a degree in Finance and an enviable GPA. This had opened several opportunities and job offers for him to consider. He didn’t allow protests by his family and reservations raised by his close associates to deter him from moving back to Ghana to pursue his dream.
Richard had his formative years in Ghana before relocating to Germany to join his family. According to him, growing up in Ghana was all fun and lovely as Ghanaians are more family-oriented. Germany is different; it is a country with its citizens focused on work and themselves.
People are interested in themselves, with a very low power distance; your own child could call you by your first name and say his opinion without the parent feeling offended. He felt very lost the first year he moved to Germany; however, at his very young age, he was able to easily adapt to the culture.
It was a great moment when I touched base with Richard Owusu on the Cocoa Street at East Legon, where he has opened a new business, XTRA Aesthetic Klinik. It is a med spa, specially for Fractional Laser Treatment which helps in getting rid of acne, stretch marks, wrinkles and vaginal rejuvenation. They also have the hydrafacial service alongside skin analysis which helps to cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate the skin.
Introducing the business, Richard mentioned that: “Our company is called Erfolgreich Ltd. which means ‘very successful’ in German. We have several subsidiaries; top among them is the XTRA Aesthetic Klinik. In addition to Fractional Laser treatment, we have a body enhancement service which has EMSCULPT and a session is equivalent to 50,000 sit ups, it burns fat, builds muscle and tightens the skin in just a session.
“We also have the cool sculpting which vacuums and eradicates all the stubborn fat cells to help your body get in shape, as well as offering cosmetic teeth whitening which comes with a free body massage while getting your teeth to sparkle.”
On the positioning of the business, he further stated that: “Our services are actually for everyone who wants to look good for themselves; and as a customer focused business, we are excited and willing to help our clients achieve that. What this means is that the client is more important to us than the profit.
“This is our adopted module to ensure the customers are given a great experience whenever they visit us. It does not end when they leave our space, we ensure we are in touch with them to know their progress; and also get feedback which is very important to us as a business that wants to grow. We give our customers the best and quality service because they are important to us and our survival.”
Commenting on their competitive advantage, Richard revealed that: “We have the best and highly advanced technology to meet the client’s expectation, and that is an undeniable truth. We offer all our services with extra free complementary products, and that explain the Xtra in our name; we go the extra mile in all that we do.
“Everything you order from us, we give you extra more and that’s the fact; from free general consultation to free body massage for teeth whitening, to free diet plan for body enhancement with free AI Fat analysis. For Hydrafacial, clients get a free AI skin analysis with a report in soft or hard copy. We work strictly with appointments so each client gets to be pampered and well-taken care of.”
It is definitely not going to be all roses knowing the challenges one encounters doing business in developing countries, and Richard shared his challenges operating in Ghana. “The challenges I have faced so far in doing my business in Ghana are punctuality and honesty. Ghanaians in general are welcoming and do receive people well as part of the culture which is a very good thing.
“However, doing my business, I have come to realise that people are very welcoming, lovely to you and helpful, but that is only when it will be beneficial to them. Also, the cost of renting properties in Ghana in a place like East Legon is super expensive, which puts a lot of pressure on the entrepreneur and if you are not careful you can’t focus on quality delivery for your clients.”
Taking a tour of the facility, you will appreciate Richard’s sense of comfort and luxury for his customers with first-rate customer service being offered by the professionally trained staff, nicely decorated spaces, serene and welcoming atmosphere in addition to the modern, state-of-the-art and sophisticated equipment. XTRA Aesthetic Klinik is one of its kind in Ghana and definitely a place of choice.
